The Eurosport coverage (which is what I get as well) really sucks... The commenter sounds about as coherent and interested in the subject as I would sound commenting a fashion show (but with less cynicism)
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The Eurosport coverage (which is what I get as well) really sucks... The commenter sounds about as coherent and interested in the subject as I would sound commenting a fashion show (but with less cynicism)
We have great comentators on Eurosport PT
What a smart move by Hyundai. Are they convinced that such decisions will make Neuville improve his performances? How can this kind of environment help him?
I think they kind of did that because it didn't really help having a number one last year... As the number one quickly changed mid year...
Also I guess the team politics is difficult now
To me it seems like a diplomatic solution. It's kind of difficult to raise Neuville or Paddon as N1 driver, so Sordo is the safest bet.
Exactly. im gonna say that Neuville wont be with Hyundai in 17.Quote:
Originally Posted by AL14
It's not only diplomatic it's the logical choice to have most flexibility and most points considering the drivers form in the 2nd half of last year. I think they see Sordo as a safe driver who finishes rallies, so they are more confident he can consistently bring points in. The other two are unknown quantities for next year.Quote:
Originally Posted by stefanvv
If Neuville gets his brain back on track and stops overdriving and crashing, which I think may happen if the new car is fast, then they will just nominate him on all rallies. If he continues like he ended last year and Paddon finishes rallies then they can nominate Paddon for the main team. I think they are looking at these two scenarios as most likely. They only have a problem in scenarios where Sordo scores less points than the other two but even then they have some flexibility.
Sordo as number 1!
He must be happy.... first time in a long time? Career first?
All true but how can you expect from Neuville to "put his mind on track" if you keep treating him like a newcomer? It's not about what he deserves and what is right, it's about make your drivers being faster and collect more points. Sordo will be the same as he has been in the last years. Paddon has a 3 years contract and is very much hungry for victories. Neuville needs confidence and support, no matter how bad he behavied in the past. And don't forget he can be good on all surfaces unlike Sordo and Paddon. He should have been the nominated driver in my opinion.Quote:
Originally Posted by seb_sh
Evans will do 7 rounds with Ford Fiesta WRC http://www.autonews-magazine.com/blog/?p=44240
Neuville will probably be history from he hyundai team after his contract and there is a high probability from the sport all together which is not a bad thing if he continues this kind of performace.Quote:
Originally Posted by AL14
7 rounds in WRC and 7 in WRC-2 is a pretty good deal for him from M-Sport. He should be happy with that as it keeps him well in the mix for future opportunities.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
I think instead that despite Neuville will leave Hyundai he is still their driver and they should work on him if they want points. Sordo's points will not be enough.Quote:
Originally Posted by N.O.T
As for his perfomances, I've criticized Neuville last year but it is very very easy, at that level to destabilize a driver. And feeling your team is no more at your back does not help. Neither you or that team.
The Evans cover is top level humor... everyone else apart from some die hard fans can see he does not belong in the peak of the series...
With some good tactics from M-Sport I give Evans the biggest chance to win the WRC2 title. If they let him drive events like Mexico, Argentina, China and Australia with an R5, he's not going to have a lot of competition and can take a lot of points there, with (most likely) almost all others absent in those expensive oversea events.
I do not agree. Will he be a champion? No. Does he belong in the series? Yes, still. If he doesn't belong, so does not Tanak, Kubica, Ostberg after 10 years in WRCs and others. I'm glad he got at least a program for next year, I would have given another chance to him and Tanak in the "works" M-Sport Fiestas for this year, but Malcolm musy have had his reasons. I honestly didn't expect much more from them in 2015 in semi-private Fiestas.Quote:
Originally Posted by itix
PS: I'm not British, not know him personally and not a die-hard fan :D
I think actually its the best thing to happen for Evans.Quote:
Originally Posted by tommeke_B
In WRC he can always blame bad results on inexperience and so on, but in WRC2 he is expected to perform.
He will meet some pretty stiff competition in WRC2, and I hope this and the expectations leads him to take every trick up from the hat in a real effort to win everything in WRC2.
A season like the one he is going to have now, is one of the best things that can happen to an up and coming WRC pilot.
Dont forget that Ogier had a season in S2000, and he was on a far higher level than Evans when that happened.
But I can promise You that that was very fruitful for Ogier.
Likewise Meekes testing process in 2016 can be very helpful for him, because he then really can focus on driving and pace notes whit out having the stress of competition hanging over his head.
Alpine skiing is very similar to rallying in several ways. Downhill is the ultimate speed event. Axel Lund Svindal is the Norwegian ace at this. He was so badly injured that he needed to drop the whole 2014 season, and be away for a year. Many "experts" said that it would be impossible for him to return to the top after staying away for so long, and that it would take a long time for him to get back to even closely where he was when he left.
Well? What happened?
He came back this season and started winning World Cup downhills from the first race, and he is in his life form. :)
Perhaps Hyundai took the Manufacturers view which in Asia means long term goals, loyalty and putting the company first. With Asian teams, should you put your employer first and yourself second then they will do everything possible to assist you achieve your goals. If however you reverse the order of priorities and put yourself in the prime order of importance then it is quickly game over.
From what one has been reading of the speculation around the traps Neuville has been endeavouring to connect with other teams from about mid-way through last season with a view to exercising the out clause in his contract and in that endeavour he has failed. Plus his public bagging of the then current car and the pace of development of the new one did not assist his cause and to me does little to inspire confidence in the man.
Contrast that with Sordo when the news broke that Paddon was to take his place in the #1 team for Australia, Sordo was very quick to come out with a statement that supported the move saying that Paddon had more experience in that event and would be better placed to score points for the manufacturer than he was. That is the measure of the man and his loyalty to the team has been rewarded.
Becoming the Manufactures champion is an important goal for the Korean company who have fast established themselves as one of the biggest vehicle manufacturing companies in the world. It is a goal for all of South Korea, whereas I don’t believe that VW winning last year was a goal for all of Germany.
This year I think that we will see Sordo and Paddon in the #1 team so as to endeavour to win the Manufacturers championship whilst Neuville will be free to chase the Driver’s championship in the #2 team. If he pulls it off, great for all concerned for both he and Hyundai will gain recognition but if he continues to crash and have DNF’s then it is only he who loses.
As expected from British media.. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by itix
Yep, MN cover reminds Brits tabloids...and reports on Loeb's departing Citro will probably became a soap opera script!Quote:
Originally Posted by Arnold Triyudho Wardono
Anyway, it's nice to see Evans getting another chance. So 2nd Fiesta will be slipt between him ans Camilli?
All right, "does not belong" are maybe too harsh words but really, his only effort worth mentioning was Tour de Corse, and that was achieved on one stage where the result was anything but what we are used to seeing.Quote:
Originally Posted by focus206
Even Mads drove well the entire rally to achieve his 2nd place in Mexico and many other good positions.
Tänak and Kubica deserve to be there on pure pace although I understand that they are debatable.
Evans has had slow results AND crashes so he can't even cut it as a safe driver.
He is for me the least deserving of last year's crop of drivers, and it is fully understandable that he is the only one who is half dropped.
The cover is comical because it looks like Msport just dropped Ogier's greatest challenger (which is hilarious).
I think Evans will use the third car which will be used by Bouffier in Monaco, no way they will be switching with Camilli, Malcolm ruled this out when there were rumors that Tänak and Evans may switch seats.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rally Power
Although im not a huge fan of Evans im still happy that he got this deal. Its a very good deal for him, in the end he is doing the whole season.
The more drivers we have the more excitement we will have and its better for WRC :)
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/ne...t-geneva-debut ,now if that would have been the base for the next rally car....that would have been nice...
RK confirmed that in this moment Monte is his only round in 2016 season
Not exactly, "as for today".
Kubica for Monte 2016 with BRC Racing Team
http://rally.brc.it/dettaglio-news.asp?id=50249
Kubica in MC with the support of the team BRC Italy
Didn't know that Kubica was racing with italian team BRC. Is it right? I knew he was under M-Sport.
it was A-Style, another Italian rally team but they broke up :DQuote:
Originally Posted by AL14
lets hope BRC won't install Kubica LPG for Monte ;)
A-Style was last year till Argentina. I meant I knew he was with M-Sport this year at Monte. But it seems he has chosen BRC.Quote:
Originally Posted by paba
Let's see if it is just a one off. My bet is that he will do more rounds. He is too much committed with WRC and it's pretty clear he doesn't want to leave.
Hmm crashes? I don't recall Evans doing many mistakes in 2015, he had quite some reliability issues at the beginning of the season, often in the very early stages. I also don't agree about pace alone, for example I see Evans and Tanak complementary on the same level (slower-more consistent / faster-more mistake prone)...Quote:
Originally Posted by itix
I really don't see how he is least deserving when he finished 1 point behind Neuville and ahead of Sordo, Paddon (1 round less, to be fair), Tanak, Kubica... how is it possible if he was so slow and accident-prone as you say?
But you're right about the cover, you know how much tabloids make things bigger...
Any know when the 2016 WRC team liveries will be revealed ?
I'm hoping this is true but it's the only place I've seen this reported. I'd assumed they had got their information from the Motorsport News interview - but in that Elfyn states he doesn't know his programme.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
14 rounds would be a great bounce-back season, even if he has to drop down to WRC2 at half the events. So let's see if it happens.
I take it Ford are just supplying technical support?Quote:
Originally Posted by focus206
I remember Monte, Portugal, Finland, Australia, Spain and I think there were more times when he hit rocks and stuff and caused punctures. There was the famous Evans fix with the spanner and the the hose clamps also... Don't remember which rally that was.Quote:
Originally Posted by focus206
Correct me if I'm wrong (very likely) but I think he crashed or had incidents quite a lot also. Maybe not compared to Tänak and Kubica but... Still a lot.
Believe the other event was sweden. Think he got caught in snow bank for a few minutes
I guess there's going off and then there's really going off. Elfyn wasn't exactly destroying cars. Not a lot of high profile accidents. Don't think he did anything in Australia apart from a high speed spin at one point?
Not that it really matters. Even as a Brit I couldn't justify saying Elfyn categorically deserved a top drive. Glad he and Ott are still in the WRC mix - but I think it's fair enough that M-Sport moved on from them.
What stood out to me in the Motorsport News article was Elfyn talking about his personality and effectively saying he's going to be a lot more aggressive and hard-nosed this year in his approach. He feels he's been misunderstood during his time in the WRC - maybe as a bit of a soft touch.
I think it was Finland, he crashed heavily into a huge boulder, but car somehow survived it and he managed to fix it temporarily.Quote:
Originally Posted by itix
In Monte he also made some kind of strange fix that hepled him to reach service and collect a few points.
In Sweden he had an off into the snowbank in rather slow junction, only damage was 2 minutes loss, which is huge in Sweden.
In Portugal , I think it was the place where he managed to crash twice in one rally.
In Poland he had little off and later retired with technical problem
In Australia he had a huge spin in sixt gear. Just a little cosmetical damage and +20 seconds was the result.
In Spain, he had rather simple off, cutting too much and going strait into the ditch.
So, he had a few crashes, three of them caused Rally 2, one caused him huge time loss (Finland) and one caused major time loss (Sweden).
Tänak had two calssical crashes, Spain and Monte (There he managed to continue).
Then he had two very unlucky moments GB and Argentina where he managed to hit small stones and broke suspension. and this strange crash in Mexico where he hit depression that broke steering and created the most viewed videos in 2015 WRC ;)
So, I would say that their season was rather similar, only difference was that Ott had mostly more speed.
Did he not damage the rear suspension in argentina aswell if i remember correctly? But managed to limp home for third